Coil forming apparatus



Nov. 16, 1965 P. F. MEESKE ETAL 3,218,4

COIL FORMING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 25, 1962 47 --TQ DC I SUPPLY 3'49 57 5| LED-L:

TO DC SUPPLY Fig.

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INVENTORfi PHILIP F MEESKE 0nd STANLEY C. HOBSON United States Patent Ofifice 3,218,004 Patented Nov. 16 1965 3,218,004 COIL FORMING APPARATUS Philip F. Meeske and Stanley C. Hohson, Muskegon, Mich., assignors, by mesne assignments, to Anaconda Wire and Cable Company, a corporation of Delaware Filed Sept. 25, 1962, Ser. No. 226,091 3 Claims. (Cl. 242158.2)

Our invention relates to strand packaging apparatus and particularly to such apparatus forming strand into coils of nonrectangular section.

In the packaging of strands such, for example, as strands of magnet wire on spools or reels it is often advantageous to taper the coil of strand on the reel for the purpose of making it easier to dereel the strand, later, at high speed. The cross-section of such a coil will not be rectangular in the usual manner but will be trapezoidal or may even have curvilinear surfaces between the flanges of the reel.

It has been known to form coils of nonrectangular section, particularly in yarn packages, by driving the traverse guide through a cam mechanism which varies the speed of the guide. When, however, the packaging apparatus is combined with other manufacturing equipment such as wire enamelling machines and must be capable of forming straight packages as well as tapered ones it is desirable to have a simpler, more easily adjustable means of varying the traverse speed.

We have invented an apparatus which can be used with standard manufacturing processes, is economical and simple to install, and can be readily adapted to different strand and reel sizes and ditferent coil forms. Our apparatus winding a strand coil of nonrectangular section comprises means rotating the coil, a reciprocating traverse guiding the strand onto the coil, a variable speed motor driving the traverse, and means continuously changing the speed of the motor in accordance with the instantaneous position of the traverse. In one embodiment of our invention the means changing the speed of our traverse drive motor is a potentiometer electrically wired to it and in another embodiment it is a rheostat in series with the field coils of the motor. In either case the means for changing the motor speed is automatically driven, as by a motor and reduction gear. We prefer our apparatus to include sensing means mounted so as to be actuated by the traverse, and our traverse driving motor and our potentiometer or rheostat driving motor to reverse responsive to the sensing means.

A more thorough understanding of our invention can be gained from a study of the appended drawing.

In the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is an elevation, partially diagrammatic, of apparatus incorporating our invention.

FIGURE 2 is a view of a strand package made on our apparatus.

FIGURE 3 is a diagrammatic view of an alternative element of the apparatus oflFIGURE 1.

Referring to FIGURE 2 a coil 11 has been formed on a spool 12 by means of our apparatus to have a taper so that a diameter 13 at the top of the spool is less than a diameter 14 at the bottom of the spool. Sides 16, 17 of our coil 11 are straight and are achieved by varying the speed of the traverse guide at a constant rate. By varying the rate of change of guide speed during each traverse of the spool, packages having coils with curved sides can be made and, of course, the degree of taper can be controlled by controlling the rate of change of speed of the traverse guide.

In FIGURE 1 an apparatus indicated generally by the numeral 18 has a plurality of spools 19, 20, 21, 22 vertically mounted on spindles 23, 24, 25, 26 driven through respective sprockets 27, 28, 29, 30 by torque motors 31.

As the spools 19-22 rotate they take up respective strands 32, 33, 34, 35 which in the illustrated case are magnet wires leaving the baking oven of an enamelling machine but may, of course, be other types of strand within the scope of our invention. The strands 32-35 are paid at constant speed from a capstan, not shown, and the speed of the spools 19-22 will vary according to the diameter of the coil at the point of application, The strands 32-35 pass through traverse guides 36, 37, 38, 39 mounted on arms 41, 42, 43, 44 all attached to a plate 46 so that they move in unison and constitute a gang'traverse. The plate 46 is welded to nuts 47, 48 that are threaded on respective threaded rods 49, 50 driven through sprockets 51, 52 and reducing gear box 53 by a reversing, variable-speed DC. motor 54. The apparatus of FIGURE 1 is used for a process requiring constant strand speed. It will be realized, however, that where it is not essential that the strands advance at a constant speed the spools may be driven at a fixed speed of rotation and the speed of the strand permitted to increase as the spools build up. Our invention is applicable to either the constant strand speed or constant spool speed type of coiling apparatus.

A pair of limit switches 56, 57 are placed in the vertical path of the plate 46 and are Wired to a relay 55 that is wired to the motor 54 in a known manner so as to reverse the motor at the end of each traverse of the spools 19-22. Thus the plate 46, arms 41-44 and guides 36-39 reciprocate with a length of stroke that can be determined by the setting of the switches 56, 57 according to the width of the spools. Other means such as appropriate camming devices and reversing threads on the rods 49, 50 are known for reciprocating the plate 46 and although we prefer to employ limit switches because of their flexibility and convenience it will be understood that our invention is not restricted to this means.

The apparatus so far described is typical of prior art' equipment and if the motor 54 were permitted to operate at constant speed the coils on the spools 19-22 would have rectangular cross-sectional shapes. It is a feature of our invention, however, that we have connected the field of the DC. motor 54 across leads 58, 5.9 from a potentiometer 61 having a contact arm 62 driven from a reduction gear box 63 which, in turn, is driven by .a reversing, constant speed motor 64 through a chain 66. The motor 64 is connected by leads 67, 68 through the relay 55 so that it reverses along with the motor 54 in response to actuating the switches 56, 57 or equivalent sensing devices. The speed of the motor 54 increases as the voltage across the field terminals decreases. In FIGURE 1 the guides 36-39 are on a downward stroke and the arm 62 is moving counter-clockwise increasing the voltage across the leads 58, 59 and thus continuously decreasing the speed of the motor 54 and the guides 36-39. The guides 36-39 are thus moving slower at the bottom of their stroke than at the top with the result that the wire build-up is greater at the bottom and a tapered coil is formed.

In FIGURE 3 we show an alternative means of varying the speed of the motor 54 wherein a rheostat 71 is wired in series with the field coils of the motor 54 and the speed of the motor is increased by adding resistance to the field. In this case a rheostat arm 72 is driven by an external reversing motor in the same manner as the arm 62. When a rheostat is used as per FIGURE 3 the increase in speed of the traverse will not be uniform and the shape of the coil section will have curved sides rather than being trapezoidal as with the potentiometer method but where the variation in coil diameter is slight this does not necessarily present an undesirable feature.

In an example of a coil made by the apparatus of our invention a spool having a traverse length of nine inches was Wound with AWG 26 magnet wire to have an upper diameter of ten inches and a lower diameter of ten and one half inches.

We have invented a new and useful coil forming apparatus for which we desire an award of Letters Patent.

We claim:

1. Apparatus winding a strand coil of nonrectangular section comprising:

(A) means rotating said coil,

(B) a traverse guiding said strand onto said coil,

(C) sensing means mounted so as to be actuated by said traverse at the ends of the strokes thereof,

(D) a variable speed reversing motor driving said traverse,

(E) means responsive to said sensing means reversing said motor at the ends of the stroke of said traverse,

(F) a potentiometer electrically wired to said motor and controlling the speed thereof,

(G) a reversing motor driving said potentiometer so as to increase and decrease the speed of said first named motor, and

(H) means responsive to said sensing means reversing said second named motor at the ends of the stroke of said traverse.

2. Apparatus winding a strand coil of tapered section comprising:

(A) means rotating said coil,

(B) a strand guide repeatedly traversing the full length of said coil,

(a) the speed of rotation of said coil remaining constant during each traverse,

(C) sensing means mounted so as to be actuated by said guide reaching the end of said coil,

(D) a variable speed reversing motor driving said traverse,

(E) means reversing said motor responsive to said traverse actuating said sensing means,

(F) a potentiometer electrically wired to said motor and controlling the speed thereof,

section comprising:

(A) means rotating said coil,

(B) a traverse guiding said strand onto said coil,

(C) sensing means mounted so as to be actuated by said traverse at the ends of the strokes thereof,

(D) a variable speed reversing motor driving said traverse,

(E) means reversing said motor at the end of each traverse stroke, responsive to the actuating by said traverse of said sensing means,

(F) a rheostat in series with the field coils of said motor,

(G) a reversing motor driving said rheostat thereby alternately increasing and decreasing the speed of said first named motor, and

(H) means responsive to said sensing means reversing said second named motor at the end of each traverse stroke.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,529,559 11/1950 Kreamer 57--94 X 2,719,678 10/ 1955 Lanstrom 242-25 2,912,187 11/1959 Rau 242158.4 2,988,292 6/1961 Bliss 24225 MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner.

RUSSELL C. MADER, Examiner. 

1. APPARATUS WINDING A STRAND COIL OF NONRECTANGULAR SECTION COMPRISING: (A) MEANS ROTATING SAID COIL, (B) A TRAVERSE GUIDING SAID STRAND ONTO SAID COIL, (C) SENSING MEANS MOUNTED SO AS TO BE ACTUATED BY SAID TRAVERSE AT THE ENDS OF THE STROKES THEREOF, (D) A VARIABLE SPEED REVERSING MOTOR DRIVING SAID TRAVERSE, (E) MEANS RESPONSIVE TO SAID SENSING MEANS REVERSING SAID MOTOR AT THE ENDS OF THE STROKE OF SAID TRAVERSE, (F) A POTENTIOMETER ELECTRICALLY WIRED TO SAID MOTOR AND CONTROLLING THE SPEED THEREOF, (G) A REVERSING MOTOR DRIVING SAID POTENTIOMETER SO AS TO INCREASE AND DECREASE THE SPEED OF SAID FIRST NAMED MOTOR, AND (H) MEANS RESPONSIVE TO SAID SENSING MEANS REVERSING SAID SECOND NAMED MOTOR AT THE ENDS OF THE STROKE OF SAID TRAVERSE. 